Written and Directed by Mike Judge
‘Extract’ tells the tale of Joel (Jason Bateman), the owner of an Extract company that produces the flavors we all know and love for vanilla, cherry, root beer and the like. It’s not a big operation, but Joel built it up himself out of his love for engineering tastes. He knows everyone in the company, unlike his business partner Brian (J.K. Simmons, hilariously flabbergasted as always) who simply refers to all the employees as “dinkus”. The manufacturing floor is filled with colorful characters as Mike (Office Space, Beavis & Butthead) Judge is known to do, usually people at differing levels of idiocy. There is the thrash metal-loving fork lift operator, the woman who blames everyone else for her problems, and of course the one dude who unquestionably loves his job, Step (Clifton Collins, Jr.). One day a series of accidents transpire that lead to Step losing his nuts (well, one gets reattached) and a sexy con artist Cindy (Mila Kunis) moves to town to try to take advantage of the situation.
This is only one of the many problems that are now plaguing Joel. He hasn’t slept with his wife (Kristen Wiig) in months (once 8 o’clock arrives and the sweatpants are put on, he has no chance), his annoying neighbor (David Koechner) won’t leave him alone, and he may have the chance to sell the company to General Mills for a huge profit if only he can settle the nut-losing issue. Of course, along the way he falls in love with Cindy but won’t cheat on his wife unless she was cheating first so his best friend Dean (Ben Affleck) convinces him to hire a gigolo to trap her into it. All of these balls go up into the air and play out in a hilarious manner that marks Judge’s return to the style of his cult-classic ‘Office Space’ after the abysmal ‘Idiocracy’.
Much like a well-made modern sitcom, this film is low on technical savvy and heavy on great delivery of a hilarious script. Each role is well cast (even if it is at times typecasting), and the hijinks ensue in a way that doesn't insult your intelligence (because it's insulting the characters). Koechner stands out as the type of guy who is just realistic enough that his annoying habits could be understood. And yet we cringe- knowing that such a person exists is so much worse than a cartoon of the neighbor who won't leave you alone.
The problem is that everything wraps up in such a neat package in the end. Lessons may have been learned and the status quo has returned like in an episode of “Andy Griffith”. In ‘Office Space’ there was a certain urgency to try and reverse the computer virus that ultimately culminated in burning down the building (Spoiler?). Here, we get a sort of tacked on situational ending with a happy ending where everything is tied up nicely. The momentum of the whole thing breaks as soon as Joel has finally solves his sex issue.
I actually wondered whether the film would have worked better as a TV show and decided that there wasn’t longevity to the concept. But on the other hand, I could see it happening- the weekly adventures of a small extract manufacturing plant, where everyone is such a character. Twelve years of working on ‘King of the Hill’ must have nurtured Judge’s mindset for this sort of TV-ready style. Either that or it’s a direct reaction to the high concept failure of ‘Idiocracy’, which despite its budget, reached for the stars. As much as I may compare it to television, there is still a crackling wit throughout and some of the funniest lines I’ve heard in 2009. I would recommend renting this at least once, definitely.
*** Three Stars – Take it or leave it
Extract is available this week on DVD and Blu-ray disc.
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